Strongest Among the Heavens
Chapter 299: Last Night

Chapter 299: Last Night

No more arrows. Kibiwott killed the Archer.

"He did it. Ha, he actually did it!" Kazi grinned. "I can’t lag behind."

Looking up, within the emerging light of the dark sky, he saw the Guifaro. The damage to the bat’s face had ruined its teleportation abilities. Blip, blip, blip! Its disappearing and reappearing act was glitchy.

Kazi didn’t bother to glance at Jackson and the Yumboes. They couldn’t fight and because of Kibiwott, the Archer wouldn’t kill them. They were safe. Mana powering his legs, he jumped to the top of the tree, then like bouncing off a spring board, jumped again higher. His ascension was an arc, electricity running through his arm and his scimitar.

Blip!

Seeing him, the Guifairo teleported higher up. While Kazi couldn’t fly, he could create a small platform under his feet and propel himself again.

This time, the Guifairo couldn’t react.

"Super Spark Strike!"

With a thrust, he ended the bat’s mighty conciousness. They fell, they fell, they fell, and by the time he reached the trees, he summoned a long clean length of mana to slid across. He walked onto the ground peacefully, with the carcass of the mega-sized bat crashing down and turning into dust.

[ You killed Boss: Guiafaro! ]

[ Receive:

300,000 XP

2x Wing of the Guifaro ]

Kazi exhaled and raised a hand. "Lucky Break." From the leftover particles, two orbs appeared in his hand.

[ Receive:

1x Night Essence

1x Space-Time Essence ]

The recovering Jackson and the terrified Yumboes were closeby. Raising a hand, he muttered, "Divine Miracle Rain."

In a couple seconds, the atmosphere became bleak but the expressions were full of relief as well as disbelief.

"W-wait..." Jackson murmured, staring at him with big eyes. "You summoned the rain!?"

Kazi extended a hand, smiling. "Come on. Up on your feet, soldier." Jackson took the hand and was pulled up. "I’d appreciate it if you keep it a secret."

"I ain’t no granny in a wagon," Jackson replied. "But I do wanna ask why you didn’t use it before. Does it hurt or somethin’?"

"Pretty much."

"Ah, I get it. I remember my mana hittin’ the low point..." Jackson sucked in a breath. "Never again. I’d hafta feel better to die."

"Haha, agreed."

***

All that remained was to return. Kazi, having memorized the area, came back without a hitch. But the village itself wasn’t so peaceful. Sylvia and Akihiko were at the front and upon his arrival they rushed him up to him.

"Kenzo and Pauline are hurt," Sylvia spat out, reaching forward to pull on him. Kazi swept past her and started jogging. "You have to heal them!"

Jogging turned to running. There was no time waste. Eyes narrowing, Kazi hurried over to the dwelling. ’Their mana! It’s so weak!’

In the player dwelling was the scent of blood. Kenzo lay on the floor, his face pale and hiccupping in pain. Pauline was on the other side, unconscious, her breathing shallow.

Kazi knelt beside Kenzo first. He closed his eyes, summoning the energy within him. "Divine Miracle Water," he intoned, his hands glowing with a blue light. The water flowed from his hands, seeping into the bloody flesh of Kenzo’s shoulders, and the wounds began to close almost immediately. Within moments, Kenzo’s breathing steadied and colour returned to his cheeks.

Akihiko was shocked by how fast the wound healed. "W-wow. H-how..." What Kazi did defied what players of their calibre should have been capable of. "T-thank you," Akihiko ended up saying.

"Ask the Yumboes for water," he said before darting toward Pauline. Leaning against the wall, also unconscious, was Sarah. Not from injury, no. She seemed fine...

Sylvia hovered over Kazi’s shoulder to explain. "Pauline was bit in the torso by a Booa and Sarah used healing magic on her to the point of collapse." Hence Sarah’s condition. "But..."

It wasn’t enough. Kazi’s jaw tightened. Sarah’s healing magic was that of the Mage, a mere fledgling, and couldn’t match the potency of his own. It wasn’t a matter of numbers; Pauline’s HP was already low in the first place. The spell healed but did not magically regenerate the gaping hole. He knelt beside Pauline who was laid on the floor, his gaze focused on the hole and nothing else. The bite must have been deep and vicious and it definitely grazed organs.

"She’s so skinny." Sylvia swallowed the fear down to her stomach. She didn’t want to show it but she was scared. This thin, weak woman was hurt and there was nothing she could do about it. "She might not..."

"I’ll take care of it," Kazi said. He placed his hands over the torso hole. "Divine Miracle Water." The blue light in his hand returned and flooded the ten inch wide hole in a bubble. The magic worked and knitted the torn flesh back together. "Divine Miracle Water." Applying the spell again, the magic hastened. Finally, the large tear in her flesh was healed, raw and red.

"Divine Miracle Water."

The raw, red flesh did not disappear. In fact, it darkened. Kazi cocked his head. During his travels, whenever he visited remote villages, only he and the healer of the village would have medical knowledge. Even then, the healer was limited by their specialty while Kazi understood a broad stroke of things.

’Darkening flesh...ah, I see. Teeth or saliva or blood. Some remnants of the Booa must still be inside and infecting her flesh, spreading like an infection on a speedrun.’

Kazi filling in the hole only made it worse. Therefore...

"Sylvia, I’m going to need you to hold Pauline by the shoulder."

"Huh? She’s healed, isn’t she?"

"No, I’m afraid I made things worse. You see that dark patch? It’s an infection. A tiny piece of the Booa’s tooth or saliva must have been left behind. Me healing the flesh only made it worse."

"S-so, wait, what the fuck do we do? Why are you asking me to hold her?"

"I’m going to burn the wound." From the tip of his finger, he summoned a flame. "Don’t worry, I figured someone would be injured and picked up some Entada africana. It’s excellent for...actually, details later. Hold her down now."

"Fine!" Sylvia did as she was told, crouching next to Pauline and pressing down on her shoulder. The fire inched closer to Pauline’s fresh flesh. Immediately, she reacted, not opening her eyes but groaning in her sleep. For her not to wake up despite the burn...

’She must have used up every drop of mana. Pauline...’

Kazi burned the flesh he created in her to the point of softness. Once soft, the infection writhed beneath the surface of her skin, the Booa’s dark infection fighting against it. Kazi paused a moment, whispering a soft prayer in his native tongue, before pressing the fire against the center of the bite.

Pauline’s body jolted reflexively, her back arching despite her unconscious state. The fire hissed and spit as it burned away the dark essence, leaving behind a charred but clean wound.

Sylvia’s hands tightened on Pauline’s shoulders. "I assume it’s working."

"It’s working," Kazi confirmed. He drew back his finger, the flame extinguishing with a soft hiss. The air was heavy with the acrid scent of burned flesh, but the infection’s black glow had faded, leaving simple and clean red flesh.

Now came the delicate work. Kazi reached into his inventory and withdrew pieces of Entada africana bark and root. "Bowls, cups, pestle, and mortars," he instructed, and quickly, Sylvia fetched it all. Kazi prepared a decoction by steeping more bark and root in a pot of boiling water. Where did he get the boiling water? Through his own water magic. Sylvia couldn’t believe what she was seeing and almost started muttering nonsense until Kazi snapped her out of it.

"Keep watching Pauline. You don’t know when she’ll wake up," he said.

Sylvia couldn’t argue, not when someone’s life was at stake. For the final step of the decoction, Kazi poured the steaming liquid into a shallow bowl and let it cool, then soaked clean strips of cloth in the healing brew. The powder did not take long to make, not with his newfound strength and speed. In a matter of twenty seconds, the powder was ready and Kazi sprinkled it generously over the wound. The powder clung to the exposed flesh, promoting healing. He then placed the soaked cloth strips across the wound, their moisture soothing the surrounding skin. Finally, he took several broad leaves from the plant and layered them carefully over the cloth to prevent infection and further damage.

"There," Kazi said, sitting back on his heels. If he were an ordinary healer, the strain of magic and the pressure of the moment would have caught up to him. It didn’t. He had done this all his life. Kazi Hossain was a traveller that had explored all the world had to offer, after all.

Sylvia exhaled deeply, wiping her hands on her trousers. "Is it over?"

Her breathing had slowed. The infection was gone and wouldn’t regrow either. Kazi let out a long breath. "Wash your hands with water first."

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